Pok Pok Thai Sweet Pork (Muu Waan)

Pok Pok's Papaya Salad with Coconut Rice & Sweet Pork (Khao Man Som Tam)

Chef Andy Ricker shares his recipes for Khao Man Som Tam from his new Pok Pok Cookbook. The are three recipes for this dish:

• Sweet Pork (Muu Waan) (on this page)
• Coconut Rice (Khao Man)
• Papaya Salad (Som Tam Thai)

Let us do all the shopping for you! We've worked with Chef Ricker to create a kit with the important Thai ingredients you'll need for making Pok Pok Muu Wahn.

Pok Pok Sweet Pork
(Click to enlarge)

Thai Sweet Pork Recipe (Muu Wan)

This Sweet Pork recipe can be prepared up to a week in advance and refrigerated until needed. Prepare the Tamarind Water a week or more in advance. Prepare the Coconut Rice and Papaya Salad on the day of serving. To garnish, you should make Andy's Fried Shallots.

Ingredients

• 1 (2 pound) piece boneless pork shoulder, gristle and large pockets of fat trimmed
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Thai sweet soy sauce
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Thai thin soy sauce
• 2 1/2 ounces palm sugar, very coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground Thai white pepper

Preparation

1. Cut the pork, with (not against) the grain of the meat, into approximately 5-inch-long slabs that are about 3/4 inch thick.
2. Combine the pork, both soy sauces, palm sugar, and white pepper in a heavy-bottomed pot and stir to coat the pork. Set the pot over medium-high heat, bring the liquid to a strong simmer (make sure it never boils or it’ll burn), then cover the pot and decrease the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until the pork is so tender that it breaks easily into shreds when you prod it, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. With the pot still on the heat, use a sturdy whisk or large spoon to mash the pork until it’s all in small shreds. Increase the heat, bring the liquid to a steady simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated and the shreds glisten and look sticky, like candy, 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how much liquid the pork gave off during cooking. You’ll have about 3 1/2 cups of shredded pork.
4. If you’re planning to eat it right away, let it cool slightly. Otherwise, let it fully cool, and store it in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat it in the microwave or in a pot over very low heat.

Serves 4.

Next see: Coconut Rice (Khao Man) and Papaya Salad (Som Tam Thai) to follow the other parts of this classic Thai recipe. To top the dish, Andy recommends his Fried Shallots recipe.

Image of Andy Ricker By Takeaway (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Pok Pok: Food & Stories from the Streets, Homes, & Roadside Restaurants of Thailand

The Pok Pok Cookbook is available at Portland's finest independent bookstore, Powell's Books and wherever books are sold. Pre-order now, shipping after October 29, 2013. Order 2 copies for free shipping from Powell's, see their site for details!

Authors: Andy Ricker with JJ Goode

Recipe & Image Copyright © 2013 Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand; Images and Recipes are used with permission; published by Ten Speed Press; ISBN 9781607742883